Radix Nutrition Breakfast and Protein Powder – Reviewed & Tested

Who is Radix Nutrition?

Radix Nutrition is company based in New Zealand that makes nutritious, simple to prepare, 100% natural food. Operating since 2013, the brand aims to make people healthier by providing nutritionally dense products. These come in easily recognisable, resealable silver bags, each containing a specifically measured portion.

For the breakfasts we tested, this was either 400 or 800 calories. Keto and Low FODMAP breakfasts are also available should you be after something to suit a particular diet.

Why am I the right person to do this review?

I’m certainly no expert on nutrition, but I’ve done my fair share of long days out in the bush trying to find the best options for each meal of the day. I’ve tried all kinds of pre-made food, and consider myself well-versed in camping meals.

I’ve made all the mistakes, from eating too much (or too little!) and even choosing the wrong food. Not to mention the nerve-wracking days, altogether too far from the nearest toilet, when my tightly strapped pack has made things more than uncomfortable around my middle.

I roped in a couple of friends to join me on this taste test so that the more subjective part of the review was done with a larger sample size. One of these friends is gluten intolerant, which was no issue at all as every breakfast we tested was gluten-free.

Dehydrated Breakfasts and Protein Powders Overview

Radix Nutrition breakfast and protein sachets require hot or cold water (or milk!) to be stirred in. They take no cook/soak time and are ready to eat instantly.

Designed to be eaten in their packaging, these little sachets of energy are super small and light. While you can add your choice of milk or water, I was hiking when I reviewed them, so I went for water each time.

We’ve bundled these new products from Radix Nutrition together in one review because many people will often have a protein shake as a quick breakfast on the trail. More than a few hikers we know will happily eat breakfast at any time of day too!

More interested in lunch and dinner? Hiking Meals Comparison: Pre-Cooked, Dehydrated & Freeze Dried

This is what Radix Nutrition sent me to try out

Breakfast Preparation & Cooking

These take less than three minutes to prepare – the time it takes to boil the water. Then all you have to do is rip the top of the packaging off and stir in the water. You can also have these with cold water if you’d prefer (drastically reducing the prep time!).

There’s no time needed to hydrate anything, just a few seconds of stirring to make sure all the powder has been absorbed. Cleaning up was super easy as the meal’s designed to be eaten out of the packaging.

I simply put the packaging in my bin bag afterwards and didn’t even need to rinse my stove as all I’d done was boil some water. I put some of the food in bowls to show the contents more clearly, but this was just for the photos!

Breakfast Nutrition

These breakfasts all kept me full (with the help of a small snack) until lunch on a day we walked a hilly 12km from the valley up to Evans Lookout in the Blue Mountains. The 21g protein content is impressively high for such a small, light meal and this definitely did the grunt work of keeping hunger at bay.

I was also particularly impressed with the 11g of fibre content, and that it included one of my five daily servings of veggies (in a breakfast no less!). I’m sure the fibre is a large reason my gut had no trouble, and any way to get some more veggies down when in the bush is a win in my books.

Note! It’s also important to say that it didn’t feel like I was eating veggies for breakfast. They were blended in naturally and added to the flavour and texture.

Overall Breakfast Flavour

While all of the meals tested had pieces of their respective fruit inside, the whole meal was flavoured this way too. This approach can often cause products to taste super artificial and sweet but I didn’t find this to be the case with these Radix breakfasts.

Sure none of them tasted like they would if you made a similar meal at home, but the flavours made them more interesting and palatable.

These meals are made from 100% natural ingredients, which I’m sure also helps them go down so well, and it definitely makes me feel better about eating them.

Original Breakfast v9.0 – Strawberry

RRP: $6.25
Weight: 102g
Flavour: 4/5
Cooking time: <3 minutes
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 21g / 17g / 35g
Total Energy (per serve): 400 calories

Flavour

This strawberry breakfast tasted exactly as you might expect, and I really liked it, especially as it was heated up on a cold morning. There was more depth to it than I was expecting, thanks to the subtle plant protein blends which stopped it from being too sickly sweet.

The texture was easily my favourite part. Adding hot water, I expected this meal to turn entirely into mush, but I was pleasantly surprised that it still had crunchy bits throughout. The rice crisps and mix of seeds made me think more of a cafe-style bircher than baby food.

Okay, cafe-style bircher is a stretch for a pre-packaged meal, but my point is that there was a lot more texture than I was expecting, and I’m a sucker for some crunch.

A view and no dishes? This was a great morning!

Original Breakfast v9.0 – Blueberry

RRP: $12.25
Weight: 102g
Flavour: 3.5/5
Cooking time: <3 minutes
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 21g / 17g / 34g
Total Energy (per serve): 400 calories

Flavour

This was the least favourite among my two friends. Personally I thought it tasted fairly similar to the others, but something about the bluey-purple colour and the texture of the blueberries themselves made it a little less appetising. Having said that, I’d have no problem reaching into my bag for brekkie and pulling out the Blueberry breakfast.

Their faces say it all

Original Breakfast v9.0 – Mango

RRP: $6.25
Weight: 102g
Flavour: 4.5/5
Cooking time: <3 minutes
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 21g / 17g / 34g
Total Energy (per serve): 400 calories

Flavour

This was the last flavour we tried as everyone was unsure about the mango. I’m not exactly sure why (maybe because it’s winter and mangoes are out of season?), but it just didn’t seem as obvious a choice as the others.

Of course, it turned out to be the absolute crowd favourite despite our initial reluctance. While it didn’t taste that different to the others, the mango flavour was the most natural and it disappeared far too quickly. I’ll definitely be adding it to the top of my packing list for upcoming hikes.

Yet another reason to step outside your comfort zone and try a meal you’re unsure about

Radix Ultra Breakfast v9.0 – Apple Cinnamon

RRP: $12.25
Weight: 175g
Flavour: 3.5/5
Cooking time: <3 minutes
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 30g / 47g / 54g
Total Energy (per serve): 800 calories

The Ultra Breakfast range has twice as many calories as the Original Breakfast Meals. It’s made for the days you need extra energy (and maybe motivation). As well as the calorie increase, you can expect more servings of veggies and a fibre increase from 11g to 16g. 

The protein content also increases, although not as much as the fat or carbohydrate content. I’ll trust the experts on why exactly it’s increased in this ratio rather than a simple doubling of everything (I assume it’s due to weight), but it’s safe to say I felt full after this meal without causing any stomach troubles.

Flavour

The Ultra Breakfast felt denser than the others. I don’t know how else to put it, it really felt like there were more calories per mouthful. This made it slightly less palatable and a little harder to get the whole thing down, as I became quite full towards the end. I assume that’s the point. The day I ate this meal, I probably didn’t need such a high-calorie breakfast, as I hadn’t had a huge day beforehand, but hey, I didn’t run out of energy on the walk out! 

I think the Apple Cinnamon flavour would’ve been my favourite had it been the original 400-calorie option. I loved the texture. The apple felt the most natural when rehydrated – and the added flavour of cinnamon gave it an edge over the single fruit flavours. 

Radix Whey Protein DIAAS Complex 1.61 Overview

Average Price: $2.66 per sachet
Best tasting: Vanilla
Country of Manufacture: New Zealand
Dietary Considerations: Zero added sugar, incredible DIAAS score (read about this in the FAQs!)

I’m not a massive protein powder drinker. To be honest, I’m usually put off by a combination of the massive price tag and the even bigger ingredients list. Additionally, I don’t actually do anything that requires a bigger protein intake than I can get from my regular diet. I just don’t see the point.

That being said, when I’m out multi-day hiking or bikepacking, I’m often looking for anything that’s light and will keep me from feeling hungry all the time. I very likely also require more protein than most lightweight meals can provide.

The idea of supplementing my trail food with so-light-it’s-barely-there protein powder, which also encourages me to get some more fluids down, and can increase my energy on the trail, was a prospect I was very excited about.

The packets are pretty large but they don’t whey much (sorry)

Whey Protein DIAAS Compex 1.61 – Blueberry

RRP: $2.66
Weight: 32g
Flavour: 3.5/5
Cooking time: N/A
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 25g / 1g / 7g
Total Energy (per serve): 114 kcal

According to the Radix Nutrition website, this is the world’s most bioavailable Whey Protein. This helps with amino acid absorption and allows the muscles to actually take in and use the protein for energy and repair. They’re also HASTA batch tested, so if any professional athletes are reading, you won’t need to be worried about tainted supplements (and also, hi!).

Flavour

I took the Blueberry flavour with me on this hiking trip and had it as my dessert after dinner. It was a cold night, so it accounted for a lot of the liquids I drank through the evening, and it tasted good enough to feel like a legit treat.

I was expecting an incredibly sweet, creamy texture, and while it definitely wasn’t creamy, it was quite sweet. It wasn’t the most ‘natural’ tasting blueberry flavour, as can be expected from a powder, but I did find myself growing to like it the more I drank. It has a slightly watery yoghurt taste, and texture. I think it’s the kind of flavour I could grow to love, but it wasn’t instantly delicious.

Whey Protein DIAAS Complex 1.61 – Vanilla

RRP: $2.66
Weight: 31g
Flavour: 4.5/5
Cooking time: N/A
Proteins/Fats/Carbs (per serve): 25g / <1g/2g
Total Energy (per serve): 120 kcal

Flavour

The vanilla flavour was a definite winner. It tasted exactly how I expected and was much less sweet than the blueberry, which I liked.

I do need to say that I was incredibly hungry when I had this. I’d just returned from a bike ride and had completely run out of energy in the last 30 minutes. When I got home I despaired at the empty cupboard, until I noticed this protein sachet hiding in the back. I ripped it open and mixed it with water in the blender because I didn’t have the energy to shake it.

While I said to my housemate at the time that it was the best thing I’d ever drunk, I’ve since reconsidered and think it was just a really nice flavour for a protein powder. I was that ravenous I think I’d have raved about off milk.

Price

These products from Radix Nutrition really impressed me on price. The RRP listed above is the price per serving or sachet. Each product comes in a pack including multiple sachets. Six sachets are included in the Ultra Breakfast Pack, eight sachets in the Original Breakfast, and fifteen sachets for the smoothies.

Compared to other meals, I assume this is one of the reasons they stack up so well. These are cheaper because you buy them in bulk. This doesn’t seem like an issue though, as they have five years before their best-before date and an estimated shelf life of ten years.

Radix Nutrition Breakfasts

The Original Breakfasts are cheaper than comparable meals I’ve found online, and while I haven’t tested the taste of the alternatives, based on the science Radix put into its products, this seems like great value.

The Ultra Breakfast was nearly double the price of the Original. While this logically makes sense, I thought they’d be less. However, the Ultra is still comparable with other meals, most with have far fewer calories. I also don’t doubt if you were to try to eat a breakfast this calorie-dense without all the fibre and other nutritionally important ingredients, it wouldn’t go down as well as this does, so you get what you pay for. Not sure? Consider a sample pack to test out the flavours.

Radix Nutrition Whey Protein Powders

The whey protein powder comes either in a bulk 1kg bag or 15 individual bags. The individual sachets are what I tried. While the bulk bag is significantly cheaper per serve, the individual serves are much more convenient for going out bush, and at $2.66 each are still incredible value for money. If you’re not sure what flavour you’ll like, give the sample pack a go to try a bunch before committing to a bulk bag.

Sustainability

I’m also impressed by what I read on the Radix Nutrition website about its environmental initiatives. It talks through the three main sustainability issues the brand hopes to address: food waste, material usage/recycling, and energy consumption.

Radix is award-winning when it comes to food waste and is really leading the way. By recycling just about all the materials used in the manufacturing process, the brand is close to finding a solution that allows packaging to be recycled without reducing shelf life or resulting in increased food waste.

While there’s definitely more that can be done to make Radix Nutrition products more sustainable, like increasing renewable energy use and finding a way to use recyclable packaging, the brand acknowledges this.

It’s clear Radix is already taking this seriously and looking for more ways to improve.

Look for the silver packaging to know you’re buying from a brand that cares

Final Thoughts

The breakfast and protein range from Radix Nutrition has really impressed me. The products I tested were easy to use, tasty, and made my friends and I feel great on our hike. Radix has put nutrition at the forefront of its products, which is undoubtedly the most important aspect when it comes to food products. This gives me the confidence to rely on its food when I go into environments with less room for things to go wrong. I’ll definitely be packing Radix Nutrition on my upcoming trips.

FAQs Radix Nutrition Protein Powder & Breakfast Sachets

What flavours do the Radix Nutrition Whey Protein Powder sachets come in?

You can purchase the whey protein powder sachets in chocolate, vanilla, blueberry, banana, coconut, mango, strawberry, and unflavoured.

Is there a vegetarian-friendly protein powder by Radix Nutrition?

Yep! Radix also has protein sachets that use plant-based protein. Like the whey protein sachets, you can purchase a bulk pack of sachets or a 1kg bag.

What does DIAAS mean?

DIAAS stands for Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score. It’s a method of assessing the quality of protein in food products, including protein powders like those from Radix Nutrition. It measures how well the essential amino acids in the protein are digested and absorbed by the body. A score of one is considered more than sufficient to provide you with your daily requirement of amino acids, and most brands aim for this (many fall short!).

But the protein powders by Radix Nutrition are scoring 1.61! Good move sticking that feature in the name of the product, I’d be singing it from the rooftops as well.